Claymore Shorts
by Silenceinthedarkness
Summary: A series of One-shots that I will update whenever I strike a fancy. Splashes of Yuri but nothing too detailed.
1. True Moon

True Moon

"Guah!"

Crimson blood splashed easily onto the rock face leaving no regards to its container.

The vessel that once housed it now hung suspended in midair with spikes holding her in position. Her extremities nothing but lifeless stumps twitching uselessly

"Here's your chance – Finish it."

Those worlds barely escaped through her pale lips. Another splattering of liquid painted the ground an unearthly purple. Gravity took hold of the sacrifice slamming her inelegantly back to earth, with her supports laying in pieces around her.

Her sense of hearing had already been lost. Her vision slowly fading and yet she saw the slim figure crouching over her. Her lips moving though none of the words spoken reached her –ah a goddess she thought. The guardian angel that had protected her. The blacksmith who repairs the shield whenever it returns broken.

Veronica smiled to herself as she willingly allowed the darkness to consume her.

When she awoke, long gone where the gray overcast skies that was notorious in these parts. What replaced it was bright sunlight that streamed through the gaps in the planks. A barn? She felt the straw that was used as her makeshift bed. Her mind a foggy mess of what had happened that day.

"So the sleeping beauty has finally awakened. How was your sleep?"

"Fine, thank you very much." Veronica replied casually to the voice beside her.

Number 14 or the warrior more commonly known as Cynthia dropped from her resting spot above a large stack of hay landing gently beside her.

As the thirtieth ranked warrior, Veronica was both her senior and superior. A position long held by the both of them.

How many years had it been since they had met? She could no longer remember but the ever cheerful Cynthia had constantly been by her side. Yes, it was since their first awakened hunt together that they had been bonded like sisters.

Cynthia had been chasing her ever since that time trying to surpass the warrior who had always stood a rank ahead. While Cynthia had failed times aplenty, Veronica suspected that her junior had always wanted to stay in their current state. From what she sensed Cynthia's latent abilities far surpassed that of her own and if she had pushed, she would have easily been ranked higher.

But for now Veronica was just happy to have her junior by her side.

"You're such a pain, you know that?"

Cynthia complains broke through Veronica's thoughts

as she slipped her hands into her senior's bodysuit, pressing her chest onto her Veronica's back. Her hands moved tenderly, caressing the skin, occasionally pressing or probing each part making sure that the skin apart from their "Stigma" was smooth and the muscles beneath it in their correct placements.

"As a defensive warrior it's my job to take the hits for the team. I believe I told you that before." Veronica retorted saying the same lines she had always said whenever she got badly hurt.

"At what cost Veronica? How many times can you cheat death? One of these days you might end up taking a blow you can never recover from. Also I'm rather sick of having to babysit you whenever you're recovering."

"So says the girl whose hands are nowhere near where my wounds are."

Veronica broke into a rare smile resting her head onto her partners arm.

"Don't be so stingy! Take this as punishment for making me worry about you all the time."

Cynthia snuggled up forcefully stealing Veronica's lips.

"After all until I surpass you, you'll always be mine."


	2. Through God's Eye

Through God's Eye

Father Vincent sighed quietly to himself as he sat within a private room of the holy church. The meeting had been going on for hours but the Clergy had yet to come to a decision: Should the lady known as Latea be accepted into the church?

Usually this matter would have been settled easily with the Father of the local church accepting her and filing a notice to the main branch but the matter of her appearance brought them to where they were now.

"This is madness! Look at her. She has the very nature of a Silver-Eyed Witch. Everything about her fits into their descriptions perfectly. For all we know she could just be faking her blindness!"

"Nonsense! What talk is this that we do not accept those who seek refuge within our city. Going by descriptions, the area around her eyes was scared and that she is blind. Aren't Claymores supposed to recover from these kinds of wounds easily? She's just a lost soul searching for solace."

"Solace? What solace does a blood thirsty demon need with our god! For all we know she might be a spy sent by that Organization."

"Though they may be unnatural, calling them demons would be too much. Have you forgotten it was one of these so called "demons" who saved us during that crisis just a mere year ago Father Serene?"

Those were just some of the random chatter than Vincent picked up. The rest went unheard as he lost himself in thought…

As had been described Miss Latea was a lady that very much fit the description of a Silver-Eyed Witch. She stood a head and shoulders above most men with her long and straight blond hair fell gracefully behind her. Coupled with her slender figure, she instantly drew the gaze of the younger monks from the moment she walked in. The best way that he could describe her would be one of a statue brought to life in all its elegance.

Though in all her majesty, there was only one flaw within her otherwise wholesome beauty – Her eyes. They were scarred with a single wound leaving both sockets a milky white colour. It was this one flaw that had made the church so suspicious.

The only way for normal people to recognize these warriors would have been the combination of their hair, eyes and sword thus earning their nicknames: Silver-Eyed Witch or Claymore.

While it was not uncommon to have blond hair, this lady while possessing the general appearance and aura of these feared warriors was blind and missing the iconic sword. While it was not his policy to judge a person by his looks, Vincent could not help but suspect that she was really one of them; a comrade to the brave warrior who had saved the church in their time of crisis.

"Enough. What are your thoughts on this matter Father Vincent? You have the most experience dealing with _them_."

The old man at the head of the table finally spoke silencing the room and breaking Vincent from his daze.

Taking a deep breath, he started:

"The focus of this conversion has strayed from its intended path my fellow brothers. We are not out on a witch hunt to prosecute this lady but to have a formal discussion if we should admit her into our family. How can we judge a person to be one of these warriors without any solid proof? If this lady can find peace in praying to god then let us accept her wish and allow her to stay. While our laws still prevent these warriors from entering our lands, lest we forget, we are still indebted to them. Also for the matter that she may be a spy, I believe that the Organization would not do something so obvious such as sending someone whom we could so easily deny entry to."

Finishing his small speech, he promptly sat back down awaiting some response or objection.

"Then it is settled that we accept her. But who shall take responsibility to guide this new addition to our family?"

"Father Vincent was it not your decision that we accept her? So I can naturally expect that you would take her under your wing?"

"I wo-"

"I am sorry to interrupt my brothers, but may I request that we have Miss Latea join us?"

Vincent who had already foreseen these series of events prepared to accept this lady and the ensuing gossip that would surely befall him turned to stare at his fellow brother who had proposed the idea.

"Father Mor are you sure of this?"

"Yes, as you all know my church has been taking in orphans and we are currently understaffed at the moment. Also I believe it was Miss Latea who first had approached me and it would be in our best interest that we have Miss Latea join us. Would this be overstepping my bounds Father Vincent?"

"No, of course not. I see no problems with this."

"Then it is settled. Father Mor shall be in charge of taking Miss Latea under his wing."

With those final words, Bishop Kamuri closed the matter.

The lady in question waited patiently beside the room awaiting her verdict. Her face obscured by the rough traveling cloak that did nothing to cover her slender figure. Even as the crowd of Clergymen streamed out of the room she did not move to acknowledge them but waited for one of them to approach.

"We have made our decision, Miss Latea." Vincent addressed her. "You are welcome to stay with the church. Father Mor shall we taking you in."

The lady rose from her seat pulling back her hood and stunning Vincent as to how tall she was but her eyes while milky white that shined pulled him back into reality as she extended her hand.

"Thank you Father, I look forward to working with you."

"As do I Miss Latea. As do I."


	3. Batch 169 1st Year Report

Batch 169 1st Year Report

Within the ranks of the training school it has always been an accepted fact that fatalities are part of the course. It is not an uncommon sight to see whole batches sent off with none returning. Even those who managed to survive have to compete with their fellow trainees for a place within the ranks of the forty-seven territories. However with the loss of manpower during the Pieta campaign, our branch was forced to speed up and streamline the training process to accommodate the replacements. Even then, our results would still have an average of 20% survival rate.

Upon saying this however, batch 169 had a 74% rate of survival a far cry from our estimated average. As such more research must be done on the trainees of that batch in order to determine what caused such a high survival rate.

It is an established fact that higher survival rates correlate to the number of 'heroic' trainees within the batch. By heroic I refer to stronger trainees who attempt to protect their weaker peers. While these trainees are usually the first to die, those who survive are of exceptional strength and eventually become higher ranking warriors while in active service. These trainees while useful in awakened hunts are unfortunately rebellious with little regard for the Organization.

Initial inspections have determined that batch 169 had 3 of such trainees within the cohort of 24. Of which one was eliminated after measures were made to split the batch into smaller groups. The 2 remaining trainees (no. 02 & 21) played a key factor in creating this abnormal survival rate.

Trainee 02 goes against the norms of a 'heroic' character described above with her skills in tracking Yoki and emphasis on the 'search and destroy' ideals. Her strengths lay within solo combat possessing no intimate connections with her fellow peers the exception being trainee 21. While her loyalty to the Organization is undisputable, her headstrong nature and policy to hunt Yoma before they can even attack the group is a determent rather than strength to our training program. On active service however, I believe she has the potential for long solo missions with minimal supervision.

Trainee 21 on the other hand placed large amounts of efforts into maneuverability and overall support. This cumulated into a distinct style in which she appears to be 'floating' in the air giving her unprecedented agility in a three dimensional area. She acts as the guardian of the group and covers trainee 02's mistakes. She regards her fellow trainees as 'friends' and would protect them over orders. It is due to this nature that her treat level to the Organization is high and as such I would recommend either keeping her on a short leash to be easily disposed off or be posted to a location in which she would be unable to interact with the majority of her peers.

I would like to refer to batches 127 and 135 with rates of 68% and 51% respectively comparing them to batch 169 in terms of survival rates within their first year of active service. Batch 179 has the highest fatalities within these above 50% training survival rates. This is due in part to the condensed structure of post-Pieta training allowing 'heroic' trainees to have a greater babysitting potential than before.

As such it is in my opinion that we should have less integration of warriors during their training phase and foster rivalries to create colder and more loyal puppets. A revised training plan has been attached for your reference within appendix A.

Senior Trainer 13

Section 4 (Training branch)


End file.
